—Several days of clearing the Great Lakeside have passed. All the adventurers banded together to hunt down the giant frogs and, at long last, even their eggs were completely eradicated…!
“Thank you for your hard work in developing the Great Lakesideeeee!!”
The city erupted into a festive uproar! It was the start of a three-day event called the “Development Festival.”
“Alright, everything on the menu is on sale for three days! And for adventurers, it’s free!?” “Thanks to support from Lord Iscar, everyone, feel free to eat up!” “If you like it, make sure to favor us after the festival too!” “Food is good, but don’t forget to check out the accessories! We’re practically giving them away!” “The renowned Baccio Clothing Store is here too!♡ Get some clothes to impress the ladies!♡”
Countless stalls filled the city. In the midst of the confetti shower, the merchants shouted energetically.
“Hey, Jade! We’ve got a new product, Giant Frog Skewers. Give it a try!” “Sure, I’ll take one.”
I took the skewer from the familiar vendor. Of course, we adventurers were the stars of the show, and even the merchants were in high spirits.
After all, they just gained access to a massive resource area. Our lives were about to become more prosperous, and to top it off, I kicked Iscar’s butt into giving them a special fund.
As a result…
“Step right up! Come and seeeee!”
The merchants’ future was one of guaranteed prosperity. Not only was the economy set to boom, but even during this festival, no matter how much they gave away with crazy discounts, they wouldn’t be in the red—only their name recognition would grow.
Everyone worked with big smiles, shouting, “Support our shop!”
“Phew, that’s a relief.”
I sat down on a wooden chair placed on the street, munching on the frog meat and feeling a sense of relief. It’s delicious.
“When the three major trading companies went under because of Alberto, the merchants were getting anxious.”
Alberto the Elder’s evil deeds had spread throughout the town, casting a shadow over the rising fortunes of Tristain.
But I wasn’t about to let that happen. I poked and prodded Iscar’s butt day and night to secure an enormous special budget for the festival, and late at night, I used my evil dragon powers to wipe out the monsters around the Great Lakeside, drastically speeding up the development.
As a result, before any bad vibes could spread through the city, this massive festival kicked off. Mission accomplished.
“After all, it’s best when everyone’s in good spirits. Here, little chick, eat some frog meat.” “Piyo piyo piyo piyo piyo!“
The little chick shook its head gracefully.
Oh, what’s that? Have you been getting fancy beans from the lord’s mansion lately and now you’re feeling all aristocratic? Do you want to say, “I can’t eat such vulgar monster meat”? Hmm?
“No picky eaters allowed. Eat whatever you’re given and grow into a fine chicken.” “Pihyaaa!“
I stuffed the meat into the chick’s beak. Its face read, “Oh, this is actually pretty good…” as it started chewing when suddenly, two familiar voices called out, “Hey, Jade!” “Jade-dono!”
It was the pretty-boy pervert Lua and the samurai-style pervert Shirokusa. Incidentally, both were virgins.
“Hey, you two. And…?”
“Yeah, our party members are with us today too!”
Behind them trailed a group of sturdy adventurers.
Lua leads the rogue adventurers, Dream of Heroes, while Shirokusa leads the Japanese adventurer group, Blades of the Defenders. Better greet them.
“Nice to meet you. Some of you might have seen me before, but I’m Jade…”
Just as I was introducing myself, a vampire-looking thug hugged Lua while shouting, “Protect me in your bosom!” At the same time, a serious-looking samurai yelled, “Young master, take cover behind me!” and stood in front of Shirokusa. Both had desperate looks on their faces. Then, they turned to the rest of their party and shouted:
“There he is! This is Jade! Don’t get near him!” “Everyone, fall back! He’ll tempt you!”
Huh!? What are they talking about!?
“Uh, you guys are the sub-leaders of both parties, right?”
The thug was Regret, and the stern samurai was Kuromatsu, I think. I’ve never spoken to either of them.
“Uhm…” “Shut up! Don’t talk to us!” “Are you trying to sink your teeth into us too!?”
Whaaat!? What the heck are they saying!?
“You’ve been in the adventuring business a long time, Jade-san. We know all about you…!” “They say you devour both men and women, a true incarnation of an incubus!”
Who the hell is an incubus!? I’m an evil dragon! Don’t lump me in with such a low-grade monster!
“Stop spouting nonsense! Is that why you’ve been keeping your distance?”
I tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but their suspicious looks didn’t fade.
“The rumors say you’ve seduced noble ladies and even female lords from faraway cities…” “During the Great Lakeside extermination, you unleashed your terrifyingly muscular body, and women swarmed to you one after another…!”
“You’re all getting it wrong!”
“Yes, I’m acquainted with Lady Burae and Lady Albedo, but they don’t think much of me. And the women you’re talking about are members of ‘Fairy Mischief,’ led by Niesha and Kuesha, right? They only care about me because they feel sorry for me being a third-rate adventurer…”
“Succubus! Succubus!”
“Shut up, you jerks!”
Seriously, cut it out. It’s a festival today, and there are a lot of people around. Stop spreading baseless rumors.
“Hey, Lua, Shirokusa, tell these guys too! Their worries are totally unnecessary.”
“Uhh…!”
I tried asking my best friends for help, but for some reason, both of them had this ‘Yeah, that figures’ expression and looked awkward. What the heck?
“I used to tell Regret to stop talking bad about people’s friends, but…”
“Kuromatsu has always been overprotective, but looking at Jade’s recent exploits… well…”
Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!? Why aren’t you defending me!? What exploits!?
“And seeing it for ourselves like this…”
“Seeing what?”
My two friends, the yelling subordinates, and everyone else were suddenly staring at me with horrified expressions.
“W-What is it?”
Confused, I looked around me, and—
“Oh my, are you all bullying Jade of Anemone? That’s unacceptable…”
“Your Majesty! A battle?! I’ll join in! …A little poison would take down a human in an instant…”
“Lord Jade, leave the rest to me. As Lady Albedo, I vow to eliminate any enemies of my benefactor…”
“I came to visit Lord Iscar and Lady Sarah, but I’ve stumbled into quite the scene… Aura, take the wheelchair. I need to fight for a bit.”
“I don’t really get it, but is the big brother in trouble?”
Before I knew it, I was surrounded by…!
Saint Anemone, the former Evil Dragon Basilisk, the former slayer Albedo, noblewoman Burae, and the genius sisters Niesha & Kuesha were all around me!
“Why are all of you here!?”
“We felt your aura while walking with the little ones.” “I was scared of the festival, but I tracked Your Majesty’s scent.” “While touring the city, my hearing, sharpened from blindness, picked up Lord Jade’s voice.” “I was here to study technology and business management, but my noble eyesight spotted you in trouble.” “We totally weren’t following your every move or collecting your cups and skewers after you ate!”
“Don’t all talk at once!”
I couldn’t make sense of what anyone was saying! Anyway, showing up here now is only going to make these guys misunderstand even more.
“Ahh, Lua, Shirokusa…! The whole succubus thing is a misunderstanding. I’m just a regular third-rate adventurer…”
“Who is!?”
The guys all retorted in unison.
Surrounded by all the women, I couldn’t clear up the misunderstanding, and they just kept calling me “Succubus! Succubus!” over and over again.
So unlucky…!
